Planting: I've finally got a plan

This is our twelfth year of living here, and it's taken me so long to come up with a cohesive planting plan. The key, I think, is to try not to over-complicate the issue, and to keep each plant family in its own place, mostly within an annual crop rotation scheme, of course.

The crop rotation we've had for a long time, ever since I built the four raised beds as stone-walled terraces into the hillside. They're a good size: big enough to get enough plants in; deep enough to allow fairly close planting, and yet narrow enough to not have to walk on them. Most of them are about 15 feet long and 3 feet wide, and I had to build them as horizontal terraces in the steep hillside because the sun comes from the back - i.e. the top of the hill behind them, so they need to grow on flat beds to make best use of it. I think they'd be starved of sunlight if I'd tried to grow them on the slope instead.

We're 210m above sea level, on an exposed site, so water is essential, as is soil condition. And the land is in full shade from October to March, so the growing season is limited. I'm hoping there will be roofs out there by summer collecting water, so that I'm not having to transfer it all across both fields from the house in buckets. I think this has been our main problem with food production in years gone by.

So the four rotating deep beds are quite easy to organise between:

Legumes: (peas; beans) Deep bed #1 is almost ready for these. It got a bin full of well-rotted kitchen compost back in Autumn, and has been well-dosed with woodash, though I think it needs even more.

















Potatoes: These get their own bed because of their specific soil requirements (loads of manure, immediately before planting) and because we eat a lot of them. Deep bed #2 is ready for them, having been covered in about 6" of manure since Autumn.
















Leaf crops: (cabbages, brussels, cauliflower, broccoli). Bed #3 is for those, but it's nowhere near ready. I need to get hold of something with which to condition the soil there, as soon as possible; and

Root crops: (carrots, parsnips, turnips, beetroot) will go into the 4th deep bed, which isn't ready either. It needs a lot of conditioning too, but even more carefully than the third bed, because manuring immediately before planting causes carrots and parsnips to fork. I'll be adding a bit of woodash and lime to this bed, and possibly something concentrated like blood and bonemeal. I wish I could get hold of some seaweed, but can't see how, without driving to the coast. Lucy sent me some green manure seeds last year, and I never did get them planted, though I really wish I had now. This year, Lucy! I will manage it, I promise. They're there in my seed box, waiting to be planted.

I need to clear out the garden room in Spring and do an intensive tomato and cucumber planting session in there. It works like a greenhouse, with its clear perspex roof, and we've had a lot of success in the past when it's been used for this purpose though again, it's in the shade for all but the summer months so the timing is imperative. I've brought some seedlings on in a sunny house window instead, to go out there in the past.

And for strawberries and herbs - the bathtub!

















I'm going to have two of those on the driveway this year: there's another one out in the field, hiding behind the remaining old shed.

We're still short of an apple tree. My neighbour gave me one a few years ago, but sadly it didn't survive the move. I think we might need to invest in one from a garden centre this year.

I did treat myself to some asparagus and globe artichoke plants for this year though, and will need to build a new perennial bed somewhere for those. It will need to be another deep bed, smaller than the others, and with maximum sunlight. Near the bottom of the field somewhere, I think - that gets more sun than the top.

And I'd love to build a root cellar, but I don't think we'll manage that this year, on top of everything else.

One thing is certain though: this year we will produce a significant amount of our own food. I reckon we stand a good chance, now that we've got a proper plan.